Pupils At 2 Schools Get October Break

The South Lake Sentinel

CLERMONT — The lure of autumn leaves and a change of seasons has families heading for the mountains in droves, even if it means yanking Junior out of school.

But for families with students attending Clermont and Cypress Ridge elementary schools, a weeklong trek to the north no longer requires homework on the road. Students from the two elementary schools are officially on vacation beginning Friday until Oct. 21, when classes resume.

Operating on a ''modified blue track'' schedule, the two schools began classes one week earlier than those remaining on a traditional calendar. The most significant difference between the traditional and the modified calendar is a weeklong fall break after the end of the first nine-week grading period.

The calendar has been met with enthusiasm from parents who like the break after each grading period, particularly the fall break, said Cypress Ridge Principal Dennis Reid.

''A lot of parents - and teachers - take a week off in October. Why not give it to them, anyway?'' Reid said.

In addition to the mid-October holiday, the modified blue calendar also includes a two-week break in late December and another two-week break in late March. The school year concludes one week later than the traditional school calendar, with classes ending June 6.

After operating on a multitrack year-round calendar for two years, faculty members and parents at Clermont Elementary School were eager to return to a single-track schedule once student enrollment dropped with the August opening of Cypress Ridge Elementary.

The return to a single-track calendar was also a money-saving measure, said Clermont Elementary School Principal Carmen Arnold.

Maintaining a multitrack year-round calendar would have required the hiring of several teachers to keep one class open at every grade level on every track, regardless of how few students were in that class, she said.

The new calendar was created to return Clermont Elementary to a single-track schedule while continuing with the track concept in case spiraling enrollment requires the school to return to a year-round schedule. But the calendar has caught the attention of schools countywide.

Lake County teachers clearly prefer the new calendar over the more traditional schedule, with more than 70 percent voting last February to scrap the traditional calendar in exchange for the ''modified blue'' calendar. School officials opted not to change the calendar countywide, however, until more parental input was available.

Acknowledging the popularity of breaks after each grading period, retiring Lake County Schools Superintendent Tom Sanders said ''that particular schedule is something that merits some consideration at other schools.''

Traditional school calendars, originally designed for an agrarian culture where children were needed in the fields, are facing greater scrutiny not just in Lake, but throughout the country.

Among those taking a chance on change is Seminole County. The Seminole County school district this year adopted a new, college term-styled calendar at the high school level. The new calendar, similar to the one implemented at Clermont and Cypress Ridge, offers more breaks throughout the school year, including a fall break.